IBM [2] and 3Com [3] released 3Com's VCX suite of IP telephony (IPT) solutions for the System i just over two months ago, but according to IBM, the solution is already gearing up for a big impact in 2007.

To get the scoop, I spoke with IBM's Chip McClelland, System i senior product marketing manager, who noted — OK, actually, he was nearly gushing a bit — four key indicators that point to a solid launch.

The first point is that while IPT solutions have a fairly long sales cycle, IBM set an "aggressive goal to get a handful of wins in place before the end of the year," which IBM could then develop into reference customers that could help fuel sales in 2007. "We met that goal," McClelland says.

The second indicator is that IBM now has approximately 400 IBM sellers and Business Partners who have gone online and taken IBM's sales certification test. "To be honest, given how busy people are, particularly in the fourth quarter, we were very, very happy with the amount of attention people took to go online and take this course," McClelland says. "It can take several hours to go through, and they they were willing to do that because it is such an exciting solution and one that our customers are asking for."

The full Business Partner requirements not only call for a sales certification but also for an LPAR certification and an application for a value-added enhancement. McClelland says that 20 BPs are now qualified to deliver the IBM-3Com IPT on System i solution.

Last but not least, IBM has been identifying and validating customers as IPT sales opportunities in IBM's formal lead tracking system. "We have over 400 leads in the pipeline now, and remember, this just had general availability on November third," McClelland says.

One of IBM's first customers, and its largest to date, is the 650-seat implementation at The Fashion Institute in Los Angeles. "It's the ideal situation where they had an existing System i," McClelland says. "They activated some processors, and now they are live, school is back in session, and that solution is providing the telephony infrastructure for multiple campuses."

Overall, McClelland says, IBM plans to make IPT a big focus on the System i in 2007. In fact, the System i crew will be in Orlando at Lotusphere [4] next week to spread the word.